KEEP YOURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD

Jude 1:21

Morning Meditation 7/10/2014

"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

The word "keep" translates tereo. It means, to attend to carefully, take care of." We are to attend carefully to the Love of God which He gives every believer at salvation. Romans 5:5 says, "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our heats by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

There are certain responsibilities that the believer has as a result of God's gift of salvation. Those responsibilities have to do with allowing God to work unhindered in our lives as Lord and Master. Serving the Lord is a choice. So many in our materialistic society choose to ignore God's right to reign in their lives. Let's notice some things that are involved in "keeping yourselves in the love of God."

A SURE TEST

Jesus says in John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments.." Again in John 14:21 Jesus says, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

F. E. Marsh says, "We know we have the life of the Spirit when the pulse of love is throbbing in us. The galvanism of profession may move the dead body of ceremonialism, but it requires the breath of holy obedience to demonstrate the reality of love. Sounding brass betrays itself on the counter of heaven's truth, but sanctified lives ring out their worth in loving deeds." Next we see,

AN ASSURED FAITH

1 John 2:3, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."

1. Assurance does not come through feeling. Some teach that assurance is based on a certain emotional feelings.

2. Assurance does not come through someone telling us we are saved.. The preachers, Christian workers and well meaning friends have not been authorized to tell a person he is saved. That is God's business. 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"

An assured faith is where we rest our faith in our Lord's written Word, and with that same word, we use it as a sword against Satan when he comes to cast doubt. 2 Timothy 2:13, "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."

There are times when doubts arise. The source of doubts can always be traced to Satan, or, to a wrong interpretation of the scriptures. Someone has said, "Never doubt in the light what God has shown you in the dark." Next let's look at,

A SEPARATED WALK

James 1:27, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

Separation means that we cease to walk according to the worlds standards. We avoid those who hate God and cannot tolerate His name being mentioned. This is the reason that prayer and Bible reading has been kicked out of our schools.

A separated walk should not give a believer a problem. We have changed sides. To resist the truth of doctrinal separation from the world takes on the immediate appearance of hypocrisy. A hypocrite is one who professes what he is not. Being hypocritical is a different matter. The Christian who is hypocritical is one who is truly saved but has never broken with the world. He wants the best of both worlds. This is not the way it is.

Some have taken issue with the difference that I see between being a hypocrite and being hypocritical. Judas was a hypocrite. He was with Christ during the whole of His ministry. But He was not saved. John 6:63-64, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him."

The word hypocritical applies to a person who is a Christian but is acting like the world. There is no separation between him and the world.

A STIMULATING PROMISE

John 15:10 says, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love."

This promise of Christ gives us the crux of the whole situation. There is no royal road to any one of the blessings enumerated in the Bible, they all come through obedience. This is the door through which we enter into the King's garden of delights. They key to unlock the treasure house of Christ's unlimited fullness, is by keeping His commandments, for by that means, the treasures in the treasury are revealed to us for our use and enjoyment.

May the Lord bless our hearts with these words.

In Christ

Bro. White